Watamote’s Tomoko is Basically Butt-Head

Hear me out.

Tomoko, the main character of No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! (aka Watamote) is a sad sack whose life gradually rolls downhill as her own delusions of greatness collide with the reality of her crippling social awkwardness. You can even see this in the fact that, contrary to original translations of the manga, the title emphasizes that she blames other people for her problems. Some of those problems are real, some imagined, but what’s generally true is that she makes things worse for herself.

A lot of characters are likened to Tomoko as a kind of shorthand to understand the humor, horror, and appeal of her character. I’ve seen Shinji from Evangelion, Wile E. Coyote (because of how everything she does backfires), and I was originally even fond of comparing Tomoko to Charlie Brown, but the more I think about it, the more that I realize that ol’ blockhead for all of his misfortune doesn’t quite cut it, and that there is only one true answer.

• Obsessed with media and entertainment, but also thinks a lot of it is crap
• Not entirely incompetent, but definitely overestimates his own intelligence
• Awkward, stuttering laugh
• Hears dirty words where there are none
• Misguidedly misanthropic
• Plans to make his life better backfire constantly
• Sometimes believes he got “laid” just by being near a girl

Think about it. I guess the only thing is that Butt-head “wins” more often because he enrages his principal.